Barry has had eye examsALL OVER THE WORLD– England, Australia, Asia etc. He came to LensCrafters inside the Sawgrass Mills Mall looking to get a quick eye test done. LensCrafters referred him next door to the Visionary Eye Careoffice. Barry was used to paying a very minimal fee for a 10-15 minute eye test. He had no idea that an eye exam could be so thorough and comprehensive. When we started doing his eye exam – he was immediately “blown away” by the high-tech equipment, the thorough exam, all of the attention that was given to him and also the caring Optometrist who took A LOT of time to meet his exact needs to ensure that he was completely satisfied.

Barry decided to go ahead and get fit with bifocal contact lenses withDr Dawn Bearden. An accurate bifocal contact lens examination, done correctly, usually requires several follow up visits. Barry lives in the Bahamas but, he was so impressed with the care at Visionary Eyecare – he decided TO CONTINUE TO FLY BACK AND FORTH to continue his eye care with the Eye Doctor here at Visionary Eyecare!!

Today he was so happy as he left our office – he now could see distance and read up close without wearing his glasses all of the time! He could also now wear those cool non-prescription sunglasses over his bifocal contacts when he is out on his boat or driving in a car during his worldly travels.

Barry says that he will definitely always come back here for his eye care and recommend Visionary Eye Care to all of his friends.

We will be giving raffle tickets to EVERYONE who comes in for an eye examination during the event. One lucky person who gets an eye exam with the lucky raffle ticket will win a FREE IPod!!!

If it has been more than 12 months since you have seen an Eye Doctor….then NOW is the time to get your eyes examined!! Many eye diseases – like glaucoma, retinal detachments, retinal tears, eye tumors etc – do not cause symptoms so, it is very important to get your eyes examined yearly. Come in to see an Optometrist here at Visionary Eyecare this weekend – and you may win a FREE IPod!To schedule an eye exam online – CLICK HERE !! Or call us at 954-851-9949 to schedule your eye exam at our Sunrise / Sawgrass Mills Mall location for this special event.

LensCrafters will be giving away FREE Designer Eyeglasses and FREE Designer Sunglasses all weekend. They will also be offering 60% OFF of their lenses with the purchase of a frame. And right now – they are also running a GREAT clearance event – with 50% OFF select complete pairs of frames and lenses – see store for details.

EVERYONE who comes into the Sawgrass Mills LensCrafters during the event will also be given a FREE GIFT – just for stopping by! There will also be FREE food, FREE refreshments and also FREE vision screenings during the Patient and Customer Appreication event – THIS WEEKEND – Nov 13, 14, 15 2009.

We are located INSIDE the Sawgrass Mills Mall – in between JCPenny and BrandSmart.

The above video is from EyeMaginations and gives a great description of what Cataracts are:

Cataracts are a normal and common part of the aging process but, they do not have to interfere with your lifestyle. A cataract is a cloudiness of the crystalline lens inside of your eye. As your lens gets cloudier, your vision will gradually become more blurred.

The human eye may best be compared to a camera. When you take a picture, the lens in the front of the camera allows light through and then focuses that light on the film in the back of the camera. When the light hits the film, a picture is taken. The eye works in much the same way.

In youth, the crystalline lens of your eye is clear and allows light to pass through. Light is focused by your cornea and your crystalline lens onto a thin layer of nerve tissue in the back of your eye called – the retina. Your retina works like the film in a camera. When the focused light hits the retina – a “picture” is taken and sent to your brain.

While a dirty camera lens blurs a picture, any significant cataract or cloudiness in your crystalline lens will blur the images that you see.

When a cataract becomes significant – your vision can become quite blurry. It is suggested if your vision drops below 20/40 or so….then it is common to be told to see an eye surgeon to have cataract surgery.

This surgery involves taking out the cloudy crystalline lens (cataract) and replacing it with a clear implant. Often your surgeon can even do a calculation that can place your current eyeglass prescription into the lens implant. The result after the cataract surgery can be much clearer vision and often there is no need for glasses after the surgery!

For more information – see your local Optometrist or Dr Dawn Bearden or Dr Anna-Kay Tenn in Pembroke Pines 954-430-3808 or Sunrise 954-851-9949 for your yearly eye exam and they will be happy to discuss cataracts and cataract surgery options with you!

Around 10 million school children in America have vision conditionsthat can negatively affect learning. This can be prevented by taking kids to get their first formal eye exam with an Eye Dr in an Eye Clinic BEFORE they enter school. A child’s first eye test with an Eye Doctor should be done between ages 3 and 4. At Visionary Eyecare in Pembroke Pines, Sunrise (Next to Lenscrafters) and Davie (Next to Pearle Vision) – our Optometrists, Dr Bearden, Dr Tenn and Dr McCulloh, begin to see children at age 4.

Allen Picture Cards

A child does NOT need to be able to verbalize or know their alphabetfor the examinerto perform a comprehensive eye examination.

There are numerous eye charts for children!!

Lea Flip Chart

Allen and Lea charts have pictures or shapes on them that youngsters can identify. The Broken wheel chartallows the child to tell the examiner which wheel on the car is “broken” . The Tumbling E chart (also known as the illiterate chart) allows a child to just POINT in the direction that the “legs of the E” are pointing in.

Allen Picture Eye Chart

Often our children can not express to us when they are having problems with their vision. They may not even realize that they are experiencing vision problems. Sometimes children will try to compensate for vision issues by closing one eye, rubbing their eyes excessively, squinting, skipping over words or loose their place when they are reading.

Kids may start having difficulty in school due to an “unknown” reason. A recent study indicated that up to 60 percent of youngsters that have been identified as “problem learners” or “learning disorder” actually suffer from an undetected visual condition.

Tumbling E Eye Chart

A vision problem is not suspected in many children because they were able to pass the school vision screening or the pediatrician vision screening. These children may still have visual issues but, they were not detected on the screening. Only a comprehensive eye exam, done by an Eye Doctor (Optometrist or Ophthalmologist) will be able to detect subtle vision problems.

Broken Wheel Eye Test

Vision issues need to be detected and corrected before age 7 to prevent lifelong problems such as lazy eye (amblyopia), eye turn (strabismus), learning disabilities and behavior problems.

Do you need help remembering when to discard your disposable contact lenses or when to see your eye doctor for your yearly eye exam? Well you can go to www.AcuMinder.comand register for this FREE service to get reminders sent to you via Email, text message or a computer desktop widget to help you remember. They even have a new Facebook application that will help you remember!

Getting an annual eye exam is very important in maintaining the health of your eyes as well as keeping your vision as clear and crisp as possible. Also it is vital to discard your contact lenses every 2 weeks or when your doctor recommends the lenses to be discarded.

Contact lenses act like little sponges that can soak up bacteria, fungus, viral particles, mucus, debris, smoke and other environmental agents. Even if you clean your contacts every night – these agents do build up on your contact lenses each and every day. Cleaning them nightly often does not get rid of 100% of these irritants. These irritants build up – day in and day out….so its important to discard the lenses and put in a new pair – even if your eyes feel “fine”.

When contact lenses are not discarded on schedule – patients can come in with distortions on the front of their eye (on their cornea) or develop allergies to the contacts. Most of the time, patients are not yet aware that these issues are even happening until its too late. Some of these issues can lead to lifelong problems with wearing contacts.

Ask Dr Bearden, Dr Tenn or Dr McCulloh in our Pembroke Pines or Sunrise (Sawgrass Mall) office for a free Acuminder.com information card. We will fill it in with your most recent exam date, the brand of contacts that you are currently using, your correct discard schedule, your eye doctor’s name and telephone number. You will need this information when you register at www.Acuminder.com

This is a story of how an eye exam can actually change the course of a child’s life.

Jennifer is a loving mother of an 5 year old little boy. Her son is absolutely adorable and a really good child yet, in school he was being labeled a “difficult / problem child” and a “disturbance in the classroom”. He often did not want to pay attention in school, frequently “acted out” and even threw his books. He just did not seem to be interested in reading or learning – at ALL.

As a mother, she knew that this behavior in school seemed a bit odd and out of character for the sweet, loving boy that she knew her son to be at home. The comments from the school really alarmed Jennifer that something was definitely wrong.

Her young son had passed his Pediatrician’s vision screening, AS WELL AS the school vision screening but, acting on motherly instinct – she ignored the comments that “his vision is fine” and took him to see the Optometrist, Dr Dawn Bearden, for a routine eye exam. Eye Doctor, Dr Bearden, manages the Visionary Eyecare (Independent Doctor of Optometry) offices next to Lenscrafters in Pembroke Pinesand Sunrise and also next to Pearle Vision in Davie.

During the routine eye examination – Dr Bearden discovered that Jennifer’s son was able to read the eye chart with just a little bit of blur but, he needed eyeglasses to correct the strain that he was feeling while reading. Once the strain was relieved from wearing the glasses full time…the child suddenly became more attentive in school and began reading ALL THE TIME.

Actually, he loved reading SO MUCH that he won an award from his kindergarten teacher for reading!! He even received an award from the school’s Principal for “Most Improved Reader”…he actually read 26 books within 30 days. WOW!!

Jennifer is now a HUGE advocate to have children get eye exams from an eye doctor and for parents NOT to be lulled into complacency by their child passing a vision screening. Her child could have gone through life in the classroom being labeled a “problem” and a “disturbance” simply because he could not see well and his eyes were being strained in school.

Jennifer states the following in her video:

No matter how well a parent THINKS their child sees well or if a child is labeled a “problem” in the classroom because he does not pay attention…it may just be because he can’t see well.

The eye exam has made a HUGE difference and my son has excelled, he is doing wonderful and his behavior is like “night and day”!